Abyssal Communion vs Summon Swarm: Why Schism and Hive mechanics feel swapped
I've been testing the Abyssal Communion (Schism faction skill) lately. First off, it feels highly unintuitive, and even tracking the exact number of active stacks is a chore. But wow, the scaling potential is incredible!
Initially, maintaining the stacks is a fun and engaging challenge. After a while, though, the micro-management becomes mundane and tiresome. I suppose that is a fair trade-off given how powerful it is, but I would definitely look into reducing the daily stack decay. Gaining 1–2 stacks per fight while losing 3–4 per day makes the mechanic unreliable. If you get caught by surprise, you risk facing the most critical fight of the game without your main power source.
Another issue is that forcing constant combat creates a highly aggressive gameplay loop. Personally, I find the Schism faction units to be rather defensive. Their core power relies heavily on backline control and ranged dominance, featuring units like the Arbiter for high ranged damage, alongside Overseers and Concubines utilizing strong crowd-control abilities like Berserk and ability blocks from afar. This creates an awkward mechanical whiplash, constantly swinging between "let's rush into a fight" and "turtle up and shoot them down."
In my opinion, it might make more sense to swap the mechanics between Schism and Hive. The Hive theme of feeding and breeding on the battlefield to gain temporary extra bodies perfectly matches their full-on, aggressive melee playstyle.
Conversely, I could easily see Summon Swarm (the Hive skill) reworked for Schism. Instead of laying eggs to hatch Fire Larvae, it could open an abyssal rift to summon unstable, explosive magical or icy creatures. In my opinion, that would fit the Schism aesthetic beautifully.
Naturally, this would require some serious rebalancing and modifications to the Focus mechanics. What are your thoughts on this?